Cold Acclimation Enhances Photoinhibition Repair in Plants

Plants need light to grow, but too much light can induce damage to the photosynthetic complex known as photosystem II. It is known that plants adapted to growing under full sun repair this light-induced damage more. But this repair activity slows down in colder temperatures. An Osaka Metropolitan University-led international research team has now found some clues to how plants survive in colder regions.

Graduate School of Science Associate Professor Riichi Oguchi and colleagues from Australia, Austria, and Japan grew Arabidopsis thaliana (commonly called thale cress) using ecotypes from around the world. They were all grown at 22°C, before some were kept as a control group at that temperature and others were exposed to colder weather at 12°C for three days. The plants were then subjected to 5°C conditions in this experiment.

Damage to photosynthesis capacity by light, known as photoinhibition, is repaired at a certain rate in plants. The control Arabidopsis thaliana showed no difference among ecotypes in the rate of repair at 5°C, but the plants acclimated to the cold for three days showed an increased photoinhibition repair rate and the extent of the increase was higher in the ecotypes from colder regions.

What we found in this experiment is that plants acclimated in cold temperatures increase their rate of photoinhibition repair in the cold, and the acclimation capacity is higher in the ecotypes from colder regions. But during the warmer seasons, as suggested by the control group, the plants do not increase the rate as the cost of such repair capacity is high."

Riichi Oguchi, Associate Professor, Graduate School of Science, Osaka Metropolitan University

Source:
Journal reference:

Oguchi, R., et al. (2024). An Intraspecific Negative Correlation Between the Repair Capacity of Photoinhibition of Cold Acclimated Plants and the Habitat Temperature. Plant Cell & Environment. doi.org/10.1111/pce.15270.

Comments

The opinions expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of AZoLifeSciences.
Post a new comment
Post

While we only use edited and approved content for Azthena answers, it may on occasions provide incorrect responses. Please confirm any data provided with the related suppliers or authors. We do not provide medical advice, if you search for medical information you must always consult a medical professional before acting on any information provided.

Your questions, but not your email details will be shared with OpenAI and retained for 30 days in accordance with their privacy principles.

Please do not ask questions that use sensitive or confidential information.

Read the full Terms & Conditions.

You might also like...
Immunotherapy Advances: CAR T Cells Targeting GD2 Offer Hope for Glioma Patients